SHIP
In May 1997, Virginians paid an average of 82 cents for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline. Whatever Jay Hardwick spent to make three 76-mile round trips between Blacksburg and Roanoke for that month’ s Scott Robertson Memorial junior golf tournament, it turned out to be the bargain of a lifetime.
Hardwick, the longtime golf coach at Virginia Tech, was hanging out on the driving range at Roanoke Country Club on the morning of the opening round. He caught a glimpse of a tall, dark-haired teen with broad shoulders pummeling one ball after another into the mountain air.
Hardwick didn’ t know the young man’ s name— he was there to scout somebody else— but was intrigued by the natural athleticism of his swing and the fact that none of the other coaches seemed the least bit interested. He slipped quietly down toward the end of the range to get a closer look, all the while trying not to draw any attention to himself.
After about 10 minutes, the player finished his warmup, walked over to Hardwick, offered a firm handshake and said,“ Coach Hardwick, I’ m Johnson Wagner from Garrison, New York. It’ s nice to meet you.”
He was instantly impressed.“ My father always taught me to look somebody in the eye and shake hands firmly, and if you met somebody who did that, they were usually a person you could trust,” recalled Hardwick, who led Virginia Tech’ s golf program from 1983 to 2019.“ I immediately had a thought flash through my mind:‘ I’ d like to spend four years with this kid.’”
From rising star to Hokie hero
That handshake marked the beginning of a promising college career at Virginia Tech. During his time in Blacksburg, Wagner won Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, a Big East individual title and third-team All-America honors— all while helping the Hokies secure four consecutive conference team championships and finish eighth in the country during the 2001 season.
He ' s got the perfect personality for it, where he doesn ' t take himself too seriously, but he also doesn ' t want to look like a clown. I think he’ s found just the right mix.
— Brendon de Jonge
He went on to win five times as a professional, including three victories on the PGA Tour as part of a career that earned him more than $ 12 million in prize money.
Now an analyst with NBC Sports and Golf Channel, as well as co-host( with close friend and former Virginia Tech teammate Brendon de Jonge) of the popular“ Wagyu Filet Show” podcast and SiriusXM radio show, Wagner will serve as emcee for the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony on October 21 at Midlothian’ s Salisbury Country Club.
“ It came up through a coworker at the Golf Channel. Todd Lewis did a great job [ as emcee ] last year, then gave people at the VSGA my number and said they should reach out to me. I was honored to be asked,” said Wagner, 45, who now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, Katie, a former Virginia Tech soccer player, and their two children, Graham and Marianne.
Sudden celebrity
Only three years into his second act as a golf media personality, Wagner has already reached a level of celebrity that largely eluded him during two decades as a touring pro. Ironically, it all started with one of the ugliest shanks he’ s ever hit.
As part of Golf Channel’ s post-round analysis at the 2024 Players Championship, Wagner was assigned to re-enact a particularly tricky Xander Schauffele chip during a segment on its signature Live From show. With no time to warm up or rehearse, Wagner went into the shot cold, making the live broadcast all the more compelling when his mishit quickly went viral on social media.
“ It got a great reception from the viewers: This guy is going out there to show how difficult some of these shots are— if I pull it off, great, but if I don’ t, sometimes I think people like it better,” Wagner said.
He called it“ the next evolution” of a segment titled“ Tee to Green,” where Golf Channel analyst Frank Nobilo would visit a major venue with a camera crew recording him attempting shots around the greens, to be aired at relevant points during the event. vsga. org S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2025 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 17